Inner Self
by DirectionOfTime
Summary: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." That's what they say, but its not always that easy...how are you supposed to accept someone who seems to represent everything you strive to fight against? Everything you've learned to hate? KakaXOC
1. The Prologue May Take Some Time

_Well, h__ere we are! Another story! Another Kakashi story, no less! Damn, I really should get around to writing a fanfic for another character (or at least, finish one I started a while back ¬.¬_) _but anyway, this has been started now, so it'll be finished! At least this time, its a KakaXOC story! Hope you enjoy! (I'm not even going to pretend to give you an estimate on how long this one will last! ^.~) Also: I'm aware that I took some inspiration from Shippuden episode 191 'Kakashi Love Song', but the (if any) similarities will end very swiftly!_

I~I~I

**Hatake Kakashi || Inner Self || The Prologue May Take Some Time To Explain**

I~I~I

He found her less than ten miles from Konoha's outer perimeter; bloodied, bruised and unconscious – he was hesitant, at first, unsure whether to suspect an enemy nin playing possum or a genuinely injured woman who'd die from the next night of exposure. After staring at her for a good few minutes, he crept cautiously over to her and checked her pulse (alive, but weak) and upon finding her completely unflinching, he gently rolled her onto her back, but there was still no sign of consciousness.

Hesitating for less than a spilt second, he lifted one of her eyelids as well as his haitai-ate and cast a careful genjutsu on her – causing no pain or discomfort, but one which would keep her unconscious and unaware for a further five or so hours. The Copy Nin then lifted her off the ground, and darted away, back towards his home village – if she began to stir, he'd become aware of it very quickly and, if needs be, then he could unleash his sharingan and knock her out in seconds.

He ran swiftly, his senses heightened from the woman in his arms and whatever trail he might be leaving behind him – returning from a solo S-class was never pretty business and always left him on edge – but his sense of honour or duty never left him. Even if his mission was to go out to kill, he held his honour and his duty.

And as a citizen, and ninja, of The Village Hidden In The Leaves, he protected the vulnerable and the weak. Right now, at least, this woman was both – Tsunade, would know what to do with her, regardless of whom she turned out to be; but the chivalry in Kakashi couldn't turn away from someone who might need his help. It might be a trait he wasn't good at showing, but Kami knows he felt such things keenly, having grown up _alone_ in the _worst ways_ meant he tended to be especially sensitive to such things.

That didn't mean to say he couldn't rationalise morality when needs be – on an S-class assassination, for example – but when he wasn't in single-minded-mission-mode, he was a sensitive individual (in that damn annoying, _effeminate_ way, that couldn't cope with his outward image..._thank you very much!_) and it didn't take much for him to be able to read another's reactions – and even if he wasn't sure how to handle it, he was most aware of it.

All of this, in turn, meant that he didn't deal very well with unconscious people – and unconscious people who looked suspicious (such as being heavily beaten and left in the middle of nowhere) left a _lot_ of nasty questions. Even so, Kakashi managed to make it back to Konoha without so much as a mid-sleep twitch; he didn't slow down even slightly as he flew past a lightly snoozing Izumo and a reading Kotetsu on his way to the Hokage tower; neither of whom gave any indication they'd even noted him. He knocked on Tsunade's door only to barge straight in, much to the spluttering of the Kage,

"Tsunade-sama, I apologise for the interruption," The Hokage, Shizune and Sakura all turned their eyes onto the Jounin and the woman limp in his arms,

"K-Kakashi? What on earth-?" Kakashi swiftly explained,

"My mission was a success, but I found her about ten kilometres outside of Konoha, completely unconscious with no one in the vicinity," Tsunade didn't react, at first, only staring at the woman beofre she barked some orders,

"Take her to the hospital, Kakashi; Sakura, follow him and begin to heal the worst of her injuries, but put her under sedation and keep her that way until I give orders otherwise...Kakashi, as soon as she's in a bed, report right back to me, here,"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama,"

"Hai, Tsunade-shishou," They both answered near simultaneously and tuned on their heels to march from the room; Tsunade thought for a moment, what was it that old-bag of a councillor had warned, about a young, purple haired operative, due to check in sometime soon?

* * *

><p>It took too many seconds of battling with her fatigue riddled eyelids before they'd open upon her command, as soon as she managed the feat, she was met with an uncomfortably bright room; she allowed out a silent and subtle breath as just a means to prove she was alive.<p>

"Looks like you're awake," An unfamiliar voice resounded to her left, startling the young kuniochi, although she didn't show it; instead she shifted her gaze and turned her head, as best she was able, toward the source of the voice, finding a blonde sat in a chair, staring right at her.

"Wh-re am I?" The bed-ridden woman croaked, her voice crackling with the stress of disuse,

"Konoha,"

"K-no..ha?" It took a moment for the words to register, "...ird," Her voice again crackled and failed her, she tied to clear her throat but it only resulted in a coughing fit, forcing the blonde near her to raise out of her seat, to set the scroll in her hands aside and reach for a cup of water and gently help the patient to drink from it; "...I need to see the Third," The blonde shook her head as a slow negative,

"I'm sorry, but the Third's dead; I'm Hokage now...my name is Tsunade," The dark blue eyes of the stranger's suddenly widened in surprise,

"W-When?"

"Almost a year ago," That was _not_ something she'd been expecting, and bluish-indigo eyes slipped from the apparent-Hokage's honey ones and back over to a pasty, magnolia hospital wall, trying to get a grip on the sudden implications of the recent information; Tsunade retook her seat on the nearby chair and lifted the scroll she'd previously been reading.

"It says here, that the Sandaime made contact with a potential agent over five years ago – one who was close to Orochimaru – and one whom he believed could be a great asset to Konoha," The woman on the bed didn't even flinch, her eyes remained staring, unseeingly towards the wall in front of her, "The description given is of a young woman, in her early twenties, with dark purple coloured hair, blue-indigo eyes, a slender stature, of average height,"

Tsunade paused mostly for effect, glancing again up at the young woman, who – if it weren't for her eyes still being open – could pass for being unconscious, "She is said to be especially gifted in the arts of ninjutsu – having Fire and Lightening natured elements, though above average skills with some Wind and Earth elemental jutsus...she had trained as an academy student in Konoha but left, at age eleven immediately after her Genin inauguration and wasn't heard from again for more than a decade, after which, she'd-" Tsunade was cut off from her rambling by a knock on the door,

"Tsunade-sama?" A pink-haired girl peeked around the door,

"Yes?"

"The Daimyo-sama's advisor is here...he's reque_-demanding_ to speak to you personally_,"_ Tsunade only just managed to resist rolling her eyes and lifted herself from her seat, grumbling lightly,

'_Can't that old fart take a hint?'_ "Fine, fine, I'll go and see to him; stay here with our guest, will you? I'll send Shizune down to relieve you in a few minutes, check up on her vitals in the meantime," Tsunade re-rolled the scroll and marched from the room in seconds, leaving the two younger kuniochi eyeing each other for a few moments before Sakura stepped into the room proper and closed the door behind her. Sakura immediately began to check over the prostrate kuniochi,

"What's your name? I am Haruno Sakura," She offered a small, but comforting smile, as she spoke checking the IV inserted into her arm; she chose not to answer, doubting what the pink-haired nurse could do to her and so remained stock still, making no move to reply or even acknowledge the young kuniochi.

"Um…Kakashi-sensei said that he found you some way out in the woods…what were you doing out there?" Sakura faltered as the patient only closed her eyes in a silent but effective gesture; conversely, the injured kuniochi's attention suddenly spiked _'Kakashi'? Why does that name ring a bell? He's been in every bingo book for the past decade, for sure, but…why doesn't that answer it completely?_ She felt the blanket on her shifted away from her torso and a hand glowing with chakra pressed to the right side of her ribs,

"It's healing nicely, your lungs are still in a delicate condition, as are your ribs, you certainly won't be allowed to do any strenuous activity for a few weeks whilst you heal," The medic moved around the bed and tended to the other wound on the kuniochi's left calf – that was, by far the worst injury, the muscle had been nearly sliced clean off.

Thankfully, the medical prowess of Konoha was apparently nothing to be sniffed at; all too quickly the pink-haired medic left and was replaced by an older, dark-haired one. Whilst the kuniochi could sense that this new medic couldn't be as easily swayed or dismissed as the younger, she made no effort to acknowledge the new presence and kept her outward appearance to be that of someone asleep – it wasn't long after, however, that she truly fell asleep from her exhaustion.

After a few solid days of rest, Tsunade was satisfied that her 'guest' was well enough to leave the hospital for a short time so as to meet her in the Hokage's office; the Godaime had a number of highly confidential things to discuss with the kuniochi and to that end, the hospital had more ears than Tsunade truly liked admitting.

Shizune had been the one to escort her from the hospital – the dark haired medic nin hadn't left her side for a vast majority of the time that she'd been in Konoha; the walk through the village had been tiring too, although not long, it was busy and came with a happiness that seemed utterly alien to her. Her previous recent experiences of civilisation had been of _his_ bases – one in South Eastern Fire, right on the border of River Country, where Orochimaru had been himself staying up until approximately ten months previously.

She'd continued with her assignments and training as ordered, but he'd left Kabuto behind for an extra month, as he'd needed to cultivate a few extra herbs for a sooner-than-expected transference of the legendary Sanin.

She couldn't be sure, but it had almost seemed as though the serpentine shinobi had given her a strange sort of smile as he'd left, like he _knew_ and it sent cold shivers down her spine just to think about it; Kabuto had tried to reassure her, but it was difficult to tell what was a worse sign, that he could see her fear she'd thought she'd hidden so well, or the fact Orochimaru seemed to have noticed her existence.

And when Orochimaru's attention had been spiked, it usually ended in something grim...just as it had done so when he'd called for her, six months later.

"Ah, you're here, good…leave us, Shizune and make sure no one comes within fifteen feet of this room,"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," The Hokage nodded, but kept her eyes fixed on the kuniochi in front of her, just as her assistant closed the door behind her, she offered a seat,

"You must be tired by now, anyway, that calf injury of yours was a nasty piece of work,"

"Arigato, Hokage-sama," She gingerly lowered herself into a seat, her torso aching with the pressure put on it,

"The Third claims, in this file, that you have been working for Orochimaru for the past five years…If that's true, then you must know that Orochimaru is no friend of ours, so I'm offering you the opportunity to explain everything that you have seen, heard and know about with regards to Orochimaru, his plans of action, bases, experiments and any knowledge he possesses – either against Konoha or its allies, here and now."

Tsunade began, flicking her eyes up the kuniochi momentarily, "If you refuse to cooperate, I'll hand you over to my interrogating squad and they will extract the information one way or another; I'm offering you this opportunity first, simply because of the fact the Third has such an extensive and highly classified file on you - and he wasn't a man to act needlessly; do you understand what I'm saying, Suumitei?" Something must have flickered over her face, causing the Hokage's eyebrows to pinch in slightly, in a concerned frown, "What?"

"That name…why did you address me by it?"

"It's the name given in the file,"

"It is? The only name?"

"Are you usually called something different?"

"…Only in Konoha…but if the Third officially changed it, then I'm sure he thought it wisest course of action," Suumitei's eyes averted down and right slightly, her expression generally passive, but not completely blank – an underlying flash of realisation, was it?

"So 'Yusa Suumitei' is merely for the benefit of your undercover work?"

"Yes, I shed my name as soon as I left Konoha…my parents were…fairly well known here, as well as elsewhere, so I took on an alias… The Sandaime knew me by that name, though, and always addressed me by it…but if it helps you may call me 'Suumitei',"

"What was your name before you left Konoha?" Suumitei hesitated for a moment, her eyes easily meeting those of the Hokage's,

"Will you try to look up my file if I tell you? If the Third saw fit to change my name on that file, I suspect he will have done so for the others,"

"Your parents' files, as well? I still wish to know…if it helps, think of it as a gesture of good faith, to tell me, I will be the one deciding your fate after all," Suumite's eyes narrowed slightly, mildly irritated by having her own words (which were really quite polite) thrown back at her,

"Aeyaki Nakua…my parents were Jugichi and Mika – her maiden name was Oshima…" Tsunade's eyes didn't change as the kuniochi spoke,

"I don't recognise those names," Nakua shrugged,

"You asked for them,"

"Remember who's turf this is, Nakua, I'll be looking into your past very, very carefully, but first, let's get down to business, how is the old Lizard-skin?"

"Still as evil as ever…and over the moon at having a new toy to play with," Tsunade only just managed to hide her eye-twitch of disgust, "Sasuke was a fool to play right into his hands, but I doubt you need to be told of that…at least the boy had decent timing," Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Orochimaru had to change bodies before Sasuke arrived, so there's another three years at least before he can transfer to any other body,"

"…" Tsunade didn't verbally respond for the moment as she reached into the draw beneath her desk (currently reserved for use as her exclusive mini-bar) and pulled out a large bottle of saké and a cup, immediately pouring some in the cup and knocked it back; Nakua merely raised an eyebrow at this, smirking lightly,

"You're a drinker…the Third was a smoker…Orochimaru was a bit, well, _twisted_…so who 'round here has trouble with women?" Tsunade scowled at this, (and the mental image of a drooling, bloody-nosed Jiraiya),

"Shut it." She knocked back the second cup and immediately refilled it, although allowed that one to stand for a few moments, "The Third remained adamant that you were an ally, despite your long term involvement with Orochimaru…you must have a lot of information gathered, but I'm curious, first of all, to know how you protected yourself, how you covered your tracks and how you're certain that you remain a hidden mole," Nakua smiled ruefully,

"No matter how well hidden they are, no mole can be truly sure of its security…but Orochimaru mostly left me alone as I was stationed in one of his hideouts…for a long time up in Lightening country and recently down to the one on the River/Fire border," That sparked the Godaime's attention,

"What? There was one in the Fire country?"

"Yes, for about three or four years…any shinobi that came too close were captured and experimented on,"

"And you participated in these experiments?"

"No! Well, not on the living, anyway... I specialised more in herb cultivation and cell analysis of dead tissue," There wasn't so much as a flicker on the aubergine-haired woman's face, a very well-practiced blankness,

"How many Konoha shinobi were worked upon, in that base?"

"I don't know for certain…it would look suspicious if as I asked too much…but from what I could work out, ten at least. Taken over a four year period, I was under the impression that Kabuto would create fake bodies and then dispose of them in the way he would for any enemy ninja…well, ones he didn't think he have a use for," Tsunade sipped slowly from her cup of rice wine,

"What sort of experiments were they?" The two kuniochi didn't meet eyes,

"A lot to do with chakra and the pathways through the body…but since I wasn't directly involved with them, there was a lot I couldn't get a hold of, since it returned, with Kabuto, to Orochimaru's side on a near weekly basis...although there were certain things I could tell through looking at the state of the bodies after they'd finished with them," Nakua's expression soured just the tiniest twinge as she spoke, easily transmitting the brutality of the experiments...and the fact that the kuniochi wasn't completely unfazed by them; Tsunade reached down and fished out a second cup and placed it in front of Nakua before pouring out some rice wine into it, again refilling her own cup alongside.

"Tell me more about the work you conducted," Nakua stared at the wine for a moment before gulping it down and shivering slightly at the potency;

"Chakra is a funny thing, Orochimaru wanted to know how taking over the body of someone with a very strong blood-line limit would interfere with his own chakra and personality when he took them over…"

…

"Ibiki, she called for you, too?" The stern interrogation-master merely nodded as Inoichi fell into step beside him whilst they traced the steps to the Hokage's office, before the Yamanaka could form his next query, they arrived at the door, and Ibiki raised a black, gloved fist to the door and rapped harshly, both men entered the office upon the Hokage's call,

"Inoichi, Ibiki, I have a special case for you both," Ibiki carefully eyed the back of the woman's head, automatically collecting every scrap of information he was able to out of her, "I'm sure I don't need to say how sensitive this particular case is, and I want you on your toes at all times…this is Yusa Suumitei, a mole sent to work under Orochimaru on behalf of the Third, she's already told me a lot, but there is a great deal still to be learned…there _isn't_ a question I _don't _want answered, got it?" The both nodded sharply, "But be careful as well, I want this one returned to me still alive and cognitively functional at the end of it,"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," The woman rose to her feet and followed without trouble after Ibiki and in front of Inoichi; as soon as the three had left, she called for Shizune to bring her a newly reconstituted ANBU team; this was really turning into one hell of afternoon.

"...Memorize the location on the map as swiftly as possible, its base recently used by Orochimaru…there were experiments carried out on a number of Konoha shinobi over the past four years. You have two weeks to find out all that you can about who the nin were, the experiments, any possible other locations, _anything_ you think is of value."

"Tsunade-sama…how did you come to know about this?" Kakashi asked carefully, from behind all three of his masks – the two physical ones and his mental one;

"…That's not of concern right now, finding out all that you can, is. I want you to leave in an hour and leave absolutely no trace that you were ever there – and be on guard, the enemy may still be occupying or watching the base for all we know."

"...I understand, Hokage-sama," Kakashi always seemed to be able to read between the lines,

"Good…Get going," Four puffs of smoke were left as the team disappeared, materialising close to the main gate. Shizune reappeared in her office,

"Tsume-san has returned with her team from the latest mission,"

"Ugh…" Tsunade couldn't quite help but roll her eyes, after the afternoon which had just happened, she was most certainly _not_ in the mood for, her damn, sunny attitude, "Fine, send her in."

* * *

><p>"You fully understand, don't you? I won't tolerate a single foot outside the parameters that I've set for you,"<p>

"I understand, Tsunade-sama,"

"Nakua…I'm allowing you move freely, but _all_ of my shinobi will be watching you very carefully…I will allow you to continue your training, in your personal time, but you will have the access level of a civilian… I won't even allow you in the library unescorted, got it?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama…I'm grateful for you even allowing me to remain in the villages with the freedoms you've granted." Tsunade pursed her lips,

"I'm assigning a kuniochi to you who will watch you, primarily, but will also help you find your way around the village and will answer any questions…if you suspect anything or if something springs to mind, she'll be the first one you talk to."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama,"

"You may enter," The Hokage raised her voice as the door opened, and her 'guardian' walked in, who, much to her surprise, also had purple hair – although it was a slightly lighter hue than her own,

"Uzuki Yuugao, this is Aeyaki Nakua, I've already briefed you what you need to know, but I want you to be aware, that Yuugao will check up on you every morning at eight o'clock and from there you will train together…Nakua, I expect nothing short of exemplary behaviour from you. Yuugao," The ANBU kuniochi nodded and gestured for Nakua to follow her, after they both bowed in respect to the Hokage.

The ANBU was quiet and stern, Nakua recognised the look immediately as being one from someone who'd heard of her affiliation, and, upon the assumption that that was the end of the story, did _not_ approve.


	2. Some Will Tell You Business Is Business

_Chapter two! Cha! Maybe this one will answer some questions? Or perhaps raise more?_ _In the words of all good storytellers, 'nothing is as it seems!' Eheheheheh! It would make for a boring story if that wasn't the case, though, wouldn't it? XD_

I~I~I**  
><strong>

**Hatake Kakashi || Inner Self || Some Will Tell You 'Business Is Business'**

I~I~I

"Are you sure it was wise to allow her to return unaided? Konoha nin's are known for their soft hearts and welcoming ways, she might be tempted to betray us," Although Kabuto couldn't see, there was a light smirk beneath the bandages on the body of Gen'yuumaru, the light from the fire in front of him creating eerie shadows over the mostly covered face,

"You worry too much, Kabuto…she is very well aware of what will happen if she fails us, _but_ considering how I've treated Konoha over the years, anyone who is aware of her affiliation to us, will bear some grudge against her. It was a good choice of yours to send her, she'll seem like quite the blessing in disguise, won't she?" Kabuto set the small pot of tea down on the table beside his master, before stepping back, and rolling up his collection of instruments,

"Indeed she will…I'm still not sure why, though, you didn't place a memory-block on her, just in case?"

"It becomes too obvious too quickly for those who know to ask the right questions, and Tsunade certainly would know…no, she needs to appear as tantalising to them as she can right now, there's a lot of information to collect, still, after all,"

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama…please drink all of that tea down, it will help immensely with the regenerative abilities of that body, and please let me know immediately if the wound gives you any trouble,"

"Yes, yes, you're starting to sound like a mother, Kabuto," The younger nin blushed slightly in embarrassment, "Besides, Konoha should be reaching the southern base soon…make sure that Hyuuken arrives there on time, would you? We certainly can't afford to make a bad impression, can we?" Kabuto smirked again as he nodded and turned to leave the room,

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama,"

* * *

><p>Nakua's pace was slower than she might have liked, but her leg was still aching and it simply wouldn't work as fast as she wanted it to; Yuugao kept pace with her, just about, although she was a step or two in front. The day was bright and there were a large number of civilians busying themselves, with their stalls or walking around. It almost shocked the kuniochi to register the thought that <em>she<em> found it odd for everyone to look so natural, comfortable and unsuspicious – her memories of being in Otogakure had instilled a deep sense of mistrust of large, people-filled spaces – there were too many eyes, too many ears and definitely too few hiding places.

"This is the central street where you'll be able to buy all your groceries and civilian requirements…a small farmers' market is held here once a week. In the next street," Yuugao gestured vaguely, whilst not looking back to her charge, "Is where the ninja can obtain things like uniform replacements and repairs, weapons and any other accessories. Tsunade-sama has given me a careful list of what weapons you will be allowed to utilise during training, the quartermaster will be fully aware of this and any attempts to obtain or use weapons outside of the list will be taken as an outright act of aggression and will not be tolerated," Nakua couldn't quite resist the frown which resulted from Yuugao's words and tone of voice,

"I'm well aware of that, Tsunade-sama explained it to me and…I'm not an idiot, I'm _fully _aware of the tentative situation I'm in, but I am _not_ an enemy of Konoha," That caught Yuugao's attention, for she span around, her dark eyes flashing with the oft-seen hatred,

"Not an enemy? _Not _an enemy? Tsunade-sama informed me of…_what_ you supposedly are, but it doesn't take away who you work for or the fact you are, in fact, _supporting_ him," She spat, her eyes hard and cold; a tense moment remained but abruptly ended with Yuugao whirling her head around and marching off, expecting Nakua to catch up, which she managed – just about.

The Aeyaki sighed internally, she had expected this, but it certainly didn't make it any more pleasant; no matter how skilled or apparently 'enlightened' someone was (or claimed to be) assumptions were always the base foundation in everyone – and the least easily shifted.

"So Oro… So, you lost someone to him?" She offered when she was again close enough for Yuugao to hear her; the ANBU looked over her shoulder at Nakua, without breaking her pace, her eyes narrowed minutely,

"I think its best I took you to where you'll be staying and that you remained there until I collect you tomorrow morning." Nakua didn't really have much room for protest as Yuugao took a swift left turn down a side street and for a few further turns, away from the busy, commercial street and down to the residential ones. The kuniochi seemed to stop at random and walk up to a building, heading immediately up a set of outside steps, leading to the covered first floor landing; Nakua followed more slowly, her leg beginning to ache fiercely, it was definitely time to rest. Yuugao was stood outside one of the doors (number 2), with a key in her hand, looking impatient.

"This is your apartment…you remember the way?" Nakua nodded, quickly taking in the door opposite (with a large number 3 affixed to it) and the landing between them – it continued around the outside of the flats in a gallery, perhaps it connected this landing to others, and adjoining apartments? "Listen, you-" Whatever Yuugao was going to say next was cut off by a sharp crash and loud, foul swearing (underpinned by a strange, cawing-screeching like noise) from the apartment opposite. The same crash sounded again, like metal wire being jolted against a wall, and further screeching ensued,

"I said 'shut _up_', you stupid buzzard!"

"Yea, your neighbour, he's a bit short tempered, so be careful how you introduce yourself," Yuugao's voice held the tiniest hint of a smug edge as she thrust the key at Nakua before turning away, "I'll see you at eight sharp tomorrow morning," With that, the ANBU disappeared in a puff of smoke and Nakua turned to open up what would become her home for the next few months or so…depending. She opened up to find what was essentially one large room, the door was located in roughly the middle, with a small kitchenette at one end, over-looking the street she'd just walked down; more centrally, there was large bare space, some good few meters in width and length, at the far end, there were two more large windows, side by side with about two feet between them.

She stepped further into her new 'home' and slipped off her sandals, as she walked across the space, she saw a fusuma panel parallel to the inside wall, as she walked over to it, she slid one panel back, revealing a secondary inner door (which turned out to be a small wet-room and toilet) and close by, was a cupboard within which was a roll up futon, a small folding table stashed, a number of zabuton and other such soft furnishings she was beginning to worry she'd have to put up without.

She immediately pulled out the small table and a zabuton, and set them out; she took an immediate seat to ease the ache on her leg and looked around her new home, it seemed horribly bare, somehow, even though there was already more _within_ the room than any she'd stayed in previously under Orochimaru's rule.

* * *

><p>Kakashi extended his hand out a foot or two from the ground in a silent signal as he crouched in the undergrowth, with one man behind him and his other two teammates hiding in the brush a few feet away. He sent his free hand up to slip beneath his porcelain mask to pull his cloth one to just beneath his nose, he could easily smell the stench of death that lingered over the place, although he couldn't detect any remaining, fresh scents of people. He held still for a further minute before he darted forward, hotly followed by his team as they swiftly punctured through the ground, as they been instructed to, so as to reach down to the level of the base.<p>

Kakashi was first to land on the metal grate a couple of meters beneath the surface as he turned around, his sharingan open wide to take in all of the information he possibly could as quickly as he could. He could see that the shaft opened out a little further ahead and he cautiously made his way up to it, finding the floor of the base to be a further ten feet down. His sharingan eye scanned for any traps or otherwise hidden aspects to the corridor he was about to leap into as another teammate landed behind him,

"Kakashi-Taichou?" He nodded as he slipped forward and landed on the floor, finding nothing immediately wrong; gesturing for the next man to leap down, but apparently, traps were a little smarter these days. Just as Riichi leapt down, a trap of some sort was triggered and a volley of kunai shot out from nowhere as the corridor began to fill with smoke, Riichi managed to deflect most of the kunai although one managed to slice through the outside of his thigh, Kakashi caught the injured shinobi and dashed away down the corridor, looking for an exit.

He set Riichi down again as he pulled a kunai from his pouch and thrust it to the slight crack in the door he could see, his breath was beginning to resist against being held for so long; he yanked back on the kunai, able to feel the slight give in the door – as well as some of the smoke escaping out the gap. Riichi found his feet and also helped to pry the door open, it eventually snapped wide and both men flopped out, coughing and spluttering for the fresh air; the smoke was swift to dissipate as Kakashi, despite his harsh pants, took a careful look at where he was now located.

It was another corridor, perpendicular the initial one, which stretched for some tens of metres, there were also about four doors, which Kakashi could see, on the opposite wall, all evenly spaced. Kakashi paused his observation to turn back to the now, relatively smoke-free corridor, although the air was still a little murky and difficult to see through (well, to those with no ocular kekkei-genkai, at least).

"Hiro, Tsuki…" Kakashi called swiftly, upon seeing the two men appear from the gloom,

"Hai, Kakashi-Taichou…what..?"

"Are either of you injured?" Both men shook their heads, "Good, then we'll split up and head out from here as previously discussed, although I'll say it again; Hiro and Tsuki, you both head left and aim for the centre of the base, whilst Riichi and I will go right…remember, information is our primary goal! The name you are to look for specifically is 'Yusa Suumitei' as well as any and all information on Orochimaru's experiments and any Konoha nin who have been here. Is everyone clear on that?"

"Hai, Taichou," All three men barked in unison as Kakashi fished out his radio and attached it to ear, just as they all did and set them to matching frequencies, seconds before they all disappeared in a light jog in their respective directions. They remained light on their feet as they scoured the base, most of the rooms they passed by were living quarters – by the loosest definition – it was quite literally a bed, a desk and a chair and very little else.

Even so, it took time to check everything for such a sickeningly large base, practically right on their doorstep, why hadn't Konoha known about this sooner? Just as Kakashi was beginning to feel his energy flag and was preparing to suggest that they pause for a few minutes, they stumbled across a room which made the Copy Nin's blood run cold.

Although Kakashi had always been a man of rational thought and belief – and had a great respect for those who had mastered the sciences, sights such as these where what truly turned him off the subject in its rawest form. The room in front of him was once such sight. There were about three steel tables – complete with shackles – as well as various instruments that hung from the tables sides and walls; each one was harsh, dotted with spikes and serrated edges, and unforgiving to a frail human body.

Everything, too, had been cleaned meticulously, it was almost _too_ clean – like sickening pretence that nothing had happened there, but the suspected reality couldn't be clearer. The antiseptic and soap smell was so strong, still, that it burned Kakashi's throat as his sensitive nose breathed it in; he stepped forward, half of him not really wanting to, but feeling compelled to do so, regardless.

He crept right up to the first of the beds and observed the surrounding area carefully, he could hear Riichi do the same. Down at his feet appeared to be the remains of a large blood stain that couldn't be completely scrubbed clear from the concrete; Kakashi stepped away over to where the predominantly rectangular room dipped into an additional, smaller equally rectangular chamber.

As soon as Kakashi stepped inside, he saw why the ante-room had been hidden behind a fusuma.

Either side of the room was lined by long tables, covered – in a still disturbingly ordered fashion – with instruments, bowls, beakers and, most ominously, what appeared to be remnant tissue samples. He dared to approach further, walking right up to where there was a large conical beaker, filled with a substrate and a number of undissolved lumps; beside it, there was one clipboard with a number of sheets of paper attached. It held a picture and notes upon whatever…_whoever_ it was that they had been experimenting on;

"…Ren Yarika…Konoha Chuunin…age: 21; sex: female…" Kakashi read off the primary information before lifting the sheet and finding more notes on her chakra analysis, chakra nature…what her body looked like on the inside…how her brain, and other vital organs, looked dissected…what their mineral content was, what their vitamin content was...

On to the next page told more of how the cells denatured, under what temperatures and what acidity or alkalinity content was, how her chakra responded to different tests and temperatures, at what pH balance the chakra pathways could survive under… More things Kakashi didn't really understand, but nonetheless sickened him to think that there were human remains floating in that beaker… Kakashi suddenly jolted back to reality with a crackle over his radio:

"Kakashi-Taichou! I found something..!"

* * *

><p>She was a trained kuniochi of Konoha and had spent her years training her body and her chakra…as well as her mind and emotions; she knew, <em>knew<em> how to fetter them and ensure that they didn't rule her decisions or thoughts. But somehow…whenever she came here, even after a year, the wound was still so raw…

"…I still miss you…I wonder if you're aware that it's been just over a year since you were killed…but I guess you'd have to be aware at all, which is pretty doubtful, no matter how much I wish you were. It's been such a long year without you, Tsunade – the third Sanin – has become Hokage and…recently, though, she's allowed a kuniochi to come and stay in Konoha. I don't like her…she's…she has been working with Orochimaru for the past number of years.

"I…I really thought I'd come to terms with your death and who was really behind it, but…haa…I guess I haven't not if just _seeing_ her made me that angry…I was so _angry_…" Yuugao couched down to find the name of her deceased lover carved into the stone, as she fell silent, using the peace to regain her stability, "Heh…such an unfair paradox, that I wish you were still here to help me decide how I'm supposed to act…but if you really were here, then I guess I wouldn't be so angry with her, would I? At least, not in such a personal way," The trees ruffled loudly suddenly reminding Yuugao that she wasn't thinking in her mind, but rather, speaking aloud; horribly conscious that someone might have overheard her speaking…overheard her weakness.

She sighed as she rose back to full height, and took a long, slow breath in…and…out, _thanks for listening, Hayate, I'll bring some flowers for you next time,_ the kuniochi turned on her heel and walked slowly away, unsure if she truly felt 'better' or not. Even so, she hoped Kurenai would be around for some good counsel, she was good at keeping secrets too. Surely telling her long-time friend wouldn't cause too much trouble – besides she really did need the advice of the living.

…

After a few hours rest, Nakua felt well enough to venture out of her apartment for something to eat, her stomach was growling unhappily – even though she didn't much like the thought of wandering around a village who'd soon come to hate her so – her hunger couldn't be ignored. She slipped her sandals back on and pulled a few notes of money from the roll Tsunade had given her, before slipping the few into her pocket and the majority back into its hiding place.

Just as she pulled her door open she caught a glimpse of the door opposite open and a man stood just inside; a couple of large, overly stuffed suitcases were sitting on the landing. He turned around and caught Nakua looking at him curiously; he was fairly large man (and probably a civilian, due to his low and chaotically moving chakra), he stared back at her unmoving for a moment,

"Uh…good evening," She tipped her head slightly, in politeness, which he returned, still staring somewhat blankly,

"You live there?" He nodded, presumably, to the door behind her;

"Yea," His eyes averted down the set of steps between them swiftly, before looking back to her,

"You're staying here for a while?"

"I guess so,"

"Then…could you do me a favour?" She frowned lightly,

"Depends 'what' it is," He stepped closer to her,

"My cousin left his parrot in my care a few weeks ago and said he'd be back next month to pick it up, but I've got a business trip that I couldn't avoid…d'you think you could look after it? Just need to give it food and water every day, it's not much…just for the month, you understand, as soon as he's back, he'll take it and leave you in peace." Nakua pursed her lips,

"...I don't know…"

"I'll even pay you, here," He shoved a hand into his pockets and dragged out a fistful of notes; Nakua held up her hand,

"It's not about money-"

"Here," He thrust a wad of money at her and turned to pick up his bags, "Thanks." He dashed down the stairs quicker than she might have been able to guess for his size,

"But...hey! Wait!" She shouted at him, but he was already gone, "Shit," She turned to look at his apartment, the door was still open, with the key in the lock; it was a very dark room, unnaturally so, even for the time of day. The kuniochi hesitated for a few moments, before sighing and stepped forward, whilst sticking the money into her pocket to leave her hands free, somewhat cautiously through the open door, she could hear a slight chinking and squawking from the far corner of the room.

Nakua headed, tentatively, over to the small kitchenette and pulled aside the curtains, allowing enough light into the room that she could see at all; as soon as she did this, however, there was sudden and fierce squawking and shrieking from the bird, she could hear its wings flapping madly, clipped by the sides of the cage. Nakua could see what a state the room was in, too, clothes and boxes littered the floor and the smell of the filthy cage permeated the air, she picked her way over to where the bird was located on the far side, speaking softly in an effort to calm the still flustered bird.

"Hello…Whoever the man was who has been looking after you has gone away…but I don't know for how long or to where, so I'll be looking after your for now…apparently, your owner has been away but will be returning next month…" She felt stupid speaking to the bird as though it could understand her, but it did seem to calm a little, although it still hissed and flicked its wings in protest of her presence. She yanked at the final two window coverings and allowed the entire apartment to flood with light again as the bird loudly screeched in dislike; Nakua was now able to see the parrot – and he was a sorry state.

He had bald patches on his chest and top of his head and he was huddled to one side of the cage, furthest from her; there was only one horizontal bar for him to perch on and the newspaper was covered in mess and feathers he must have pulled out. From his remaining crimson plumage, she could tell that he was a scarlet macaw.

"Wow, you're a very rare bird, I wonder how on Earth he must have gotten hold of you? You were probably stolen…what a horrible thought…stolen from home then left to rot in this dank place, eh? I'm sorry," Yea, she definitely sounded like a bit of a retard…but, he again calmed a little as he cocked his head, his eye fixed carefully on her; she stepped cautiously and very slowly, closer to the cage, he griped again, but remained fairly calm, "Don't worry, I'm just looking at your food and water…hmm…you must not like that stuff, huh?" The cup for holding food was full to over-flowing and looked untouched whilst his water dish was completely empty. She racked her brain for all of the information she knew on these parrots (or any bird for that matter)…and there wasn't particularly a lot.

"Bear with me…uh…whatever your name is, I'm going to go and get you more food…I guess you'd probably like some fruit to eat, right? Once l get you something more appetising, maybe you'll start to feel better…I'll leave you alone for now, but I'll be back soon, okay?" The macaw cocked his head again and blinked at her, his eyes not leaving Nakua's as she slowly stepped away, and turned to leave the apartment, closing the door quietly behind her. She walked down the steps and back out onto the street, wondering where in the hell she was supposed to find a pet shop that might be able to give her some advice on caring for the bird.

Of all the random things to happen…

* * *

><p>Kakashi and Riichi darted carefully back towards Tsuki's position, the base was still eerily quiet and the Copy Nin's intuition told him that it would not remain that way for long. They couldn't possibly infiltrate a base of Orochimaru's – even if it was apparently disused – and get away with it. Still, he put aside his disquieting thoughts and pushed harder still, the quicker they found out what they needed to, they quicker they could get the hell out of there.<p>

"Taichou? Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" He returned, not bothering to look over to the younger Jounin ANBU,

"…Nothing I guess, I just…" As Riichi's voice trailed off, Kakashi _did _hear something, it was hard to focus on and fleeting but it was a low murmur, close to the pitch of a man's voice, it was difficult to distinguish…and entirely possible that Kakashi's mind was leaping to the conclusions he didn't like,

"Come on, we've got to hurry," They darted around the final corner, which lead them down to a small ante-room outside of which was stood Hiro, he directed Kakashi onward across the chamber and through the door at the far end, whilst Riichi remained behind. The central room was completely enclosed and full of shelves and cabinets dotted with papers - Kakashi didn't like much that there appeared to be only a single entrance or exit.

"What is it? What did you find?" Tsuki looked to his Captain as he held up the folders in his hands, Kakashi took them from his subordinate and flipped the top one open, as he read it through swiftly with his good eye, the name given matched the one Tsunade asked them to look for and the description…oh, the description matched that of the woman he'd found near Konoha nigh on a week and a half ago; he flipped the page over again and found a small photograph of the woman, it was her alright.

But this time, as he gazed at the picture, a hideous bolt of realisation and recognition struck him about the woman, that he hadn't noticed when she was covered in bruises and blood. His silence must have seemed odd to his subordinate,

"…Taichou?"

"Sh-she…" His words were cut off but a sudden explosion and shouting of voices, both those unfamiliar and those of Hiro and Riichi; Kakashi hand's snapped into action, rolling the file up and sliding it into a pouch with the other documents he'd claimed, but his mind was still reeling, "…She…was the one who…killed Rin…"

.

..

* * *

><p>An – When I talk about the differences in pH balance (acids and alkalis) I wonder (if ninja were real) if their chakra natures and chakra pathways and the like would cause a minor percentage change (i.e. 0.000%) in the acidic/alkali content needed for cell denaturation etc… I don't know, but my inner–geek says: "It's a possibility…" LOL!

No fights just yet, but they'll be cropping up real soon…i.e. in the next chapter! ^-^


	3. Can The Victim Choose A Just Punishment

_Best insult ever: "You stay right there, you quazi-totalitarian cardassian!" –Cptn. Braxton, ST Voy – 08x3 'Future's End' – LOL! I've really got to use that at some point! No one would see that one coming! XD_

_Also! I've found the time to draw some fan art! ^-^ Yosh! Please see my profile page to a link to it! (It is actually for Inner Self but one for GNF is next on the cards!) Are there any requests for artwork for my stories? Were there any scenes in my stories you particularly want to see? XD_

I~I~I

**Hatake Kakashi || Inner Self || Can The Victim Choose A Just Punishment For The Crime?**

I~I~I

"So, talk to me, what's wrong? You're not normally this sullen," Yuugao's eyebrows pinched into a frown a Kurenai's words,

"Are you aware that we've had a new…_addition_ to the village?"

"That woman Kakashi found? Sure," Yuugao resisted the urge to roll her eyes, did anything remain a secret in this damn village? _No, don't be silly_.

"Yea, her…the thing is, Tsunade-sama ordered me to be a…_chaperone _of sorts, to help her find her way around the village and generally keep an eye on her,"

"…And?" Kurenai raised the cup of tea to her lips, unsure why her friend was make such a big deal of a fairly simple situation,

"…And, she's…spent the past five years working for Orochimaru," Kurenai – in just retribution, Yuugao thought, for her blasé attitude – immediately chocked on the sip of tea and was caught up in a coughing fit, her spluttering and cursing even brought the shop proprietor over. An extremely nervous fellow by nature, he clucked around the barely recovering kuniochi as he dabbed at the spots of tea spat on to the table,

"Um…Kurenai-san?"

"H-hai, Yukatai-san…I'm fine," She finally regained her calm, "My apologies, my _friend_ was just telling me a strange joke," Kurenai fixed Yuugao with something of a glare, as Yukatai looked nervously between them;

"Thanks, Yukatai-san, but Kurenai's fine," he hesitated for a moment, apparently unsure whether to trust it, but he dipped his head and walked away, still keeping his eyes and ears on the pair.

"Why the hell did you say that? Right when I was taking a sip?-!" Yuugao shrugged,

"I thought you were supposed remain calm no matter what the situation? That is the essence of a ninja, isn't it?"

"Who remains calm at the mention of Orochimaru? Besides, what in the _hell_ is someone like that doing here? Is Tsunade opening the gates to our enemies now?" The ruby eyed kuniochi's harsh whisper full of as much hate as Yuugao's had been earlier that day,

"What am I supposed to do, Kurenai? I've got to _look after_ her," The Yuuhi gave a derisive snort,

"She's the enemy, that's all; you've been given your assigned task, just get it done and don't waste words with her sort."

"I don't think it's that simple," Yuugao took a tentative sip of tea as she pondered,

"Of course it is…if she works for _him_, then she doesn't deserve any leniency! How much has he taken from you already? And yet you're thinking she deserves to be treated like one of us?" Yuugao frowned slightly, it wasn't as though she _didn't _know already, but somehow, there was something that seemed so very childish about seeing only the surface. The ANBU sighed and took another sip of her tea, whilst Kurenai pondered, "I wonder what she was doing alone in the woods like that, anyway…maybe he was done with her?"

"If he was, then why didn't he kill her? It wouldn't have made sense to dump a lackey but _not_ kill her,"

"True…but then, do you think she was _sent_ here? He wants her to gather information?" The two kuniochi met eyes and a brief moment of silence passed between them, but it was just as soon again broke,

"Nah, don't be stupid Kurenai, you sound like a five year old with an over-active imagination, besides, Tsunade wouldn't have allowed her here unless she was sure there was no significant threat to Konoha," Kurenai's eye's narrowed slightly,

"Of course, but if Tsunade wanted to be truly sure, then she would have killed her – that's all…no one just 'stops' working for Orochimaru," Yuugao hummed a noncommittal response, some part of her knowing the truth to her friends words, but another part not really wanting to acknowledge them.

* * *

><p>The second Kakashi's arm rose to block the strike from his opponent, the kunai gripped in his right hand darted under, between them and lodged itself into his heart, beneath his ribcage and easily severing the vulnerable flesh of his diaphragm. The man was dead as soon as his strike had landed, but Kakashi kept his grip on the corpse and deflected a sudden volley of kunai; he tossed the body aside and threw his hands into seals for a large Goukakkyuu.<p>

The shinobi dodged, but he was no match for an angry Copy Nin's sharingan, as soon as the second goon had landed in a crouch on a nearby tree branch, Kakashi was upon him and he thrust his hand through the enemy's chest – his flattened, pointed hand transformed into solid rock as it crushed bone and soft organ alike, killing the man in an instant.

Even he was aware of how rushed and angry he was feeling – normally, he would tend to draw out flights, not by much, but enough for opponents to give away their major techniques and styles – but here, his patience had been burnt to a cinder the second his realisation had hit home. He couldn't be bothered with these pathetic excuses for shinobi right now, he needed to get back to Konoha and answer the questions which had been plaguing him for over a decade.

He span around on the branch and looked down to see how his team were faring, Hiro was doing well, but Tsuki looked to be in trouble – he couldn't even see Riichi from where he was; but Kakashi dived into action before he could give it much more thought. He pulled two pairs of kunai from the large pouch on his hip and darted forward, he landed on his right foot and pivoted around, swooping his heel into the side of his enemy's head. As he span, his sharingan caught sight of a kunai whizzing towards him from behind the treeline of the clearing they were fighting in, on sheer instinct and muscle-memory, he thrust his right hand up and deflected the incoming projectile, but too late, was Kakashi able to spot the attached kibakufuda [exploding tag].

Tsuki and his enemy both reeled backwards coughing and spluttering at the dust kicked up from the violent explosion of the tag; _Kakashi-Taichou was around here somewhere but-_Tsuki didn't have any more time to ponder as he spotted the shadow in the tree line and he thrust his hand into his pouch and withdrew a fistful of sebon. They flew at blinding speed towards his target just the great sound of earth splitting behind him caught his attention and the young ANBU turned to see the shinobi he'd been fighting as he was yanked beneath the earth, a horrible, strangled scream emanating from him as Kakashi made an appearance.

The scream fell short, and his had lulled backwards as Kakashi again flashed through the seals for his raikiri as he charged forward; Hiro landed on the far side of the clearing, at the same time dropping into a roll to avoid another volley of shuriken. Hiro retuned a volley as he began to mould his chakra to form a jet of water as the nin closed on him; Kakashi paused in his original attack as he could see that the other shinobi was also lightning natured and Hiro's jutsu wouldn't hold up against it.

He darted back and just as the enemy threw a shuriken with wire attached, the glow of chakra surrounding it unmistakable. The shuriken hit its mark and Hiro immediately froze, unable to counter the foreign, electricity-like chakra that paralysed him; but the enemy nin couldn't celebrate his victory as Kakashi was upon him and driving a fist full of chidori through his chest.

"Kakashi-Taichou!" Tsuki's voice alerted him as soon as he'd kicked the body off Hiro,

"What is it?" He darted away towards the sound of the gnashing metal, and resounding, unfamiliar laughter.

"Kuso," Tsuki swore as Kakashi landed beside him, seeing another enemy stood high on a tree branch, holding Riichi's unconscious and limp body,

"Since you took my teammates, I'll be taking one or two of yours…you might want to check on that water-boy of yours," The man grinned and suddenly disappeared,

"Shit…kuchiyose no jutsu!" Kakashi slammed his palm to the ground as his eight nin dogs appeared, "There was an enemy stood on that branch moments ago, catch the sent then follow it," Kakashi barked his orders before turning to Tsuki, "Go check on Hiro,"

"Hai, Taichou," The ANBU darted away as Pakkun landed at Kakashi's feet;

"There's nothing, boss…there's no scent up there but of the tree…the others are out searching around, just in case but I can't detect any human scents but yours and your teams…well, those and the three bodies,"

"Hmm…" Kakashi did _not_ like the sound of that,

"Taichou!" Tsuki's concerned shout drew his attention, "Hiro's in really bad shape! We need to get him back to the village as soon as possible,"

"…Alright, let's prepare to move," Kakashi walked over to his two remaining teammates, seeing that Hiro was indeed flagging, he pulled off the nin's weapon pouch and clipped it to his own belt, before hoisting Hiro onto his back and looping wire around his chest so that he'd be able to run swiftly, he turned back to his other teammate,

"Ready?"

"Hai, Taichou,"

"Then let's get the hell out of here," Kakashi growled as he shot off into the trees as fast as he could manage with the extra weight.

* * *

><p>The initial reaction was just the same as the first time he'd set eyes on her.<p>

Screeching and squawking as if she was doing her best to murder the poor macaw, but again, she spoke softly – if not inanely to it – and the balding, scarlet bird eased its pitch to a light chirping. She placed the shopping bag down on the small chabudai [small, short legged table] the owner of this apartment had left behind, the bird cawed slightly, in what – if Nakua didn't know better – sounded like a small coo of curiosity; he cocked his head aside slightly, watching her carefully as she unpacked a newspaper and a small bag of wood shavings as well as a few large bags of fruit.

She approached the cage slowly, again speaking carefully as the macaw flapped its wings and screeched at her again, obviously wanting her to remain _firmly_ on the other side of the room. The kuniochi cautiously, and with deliberate, but slow movements, unlatched the cage door and opened it, carefully reaching her hand in to unhook the water and food cups, before tugging, gently, away at the newspaper (or what she hoped was) to remove the worst of the mess.

It surprised her that the parrot was quite well behaved – he clucked lightly in what she guessed were warning noises, but he didn't move to attack her as she finally removed all of the soiled newspaper she again closed the cage and threw the crumpled paper into the bin before she quickly grabbed a cloth from the kitchen sink and lathered it with soap before gently rinsing the bottom of the cage.

It wouldn't be the most effective, but it was certainly better than nothing, as she scrubbed away at the remnants of mess she could see before washing away the soap and laying down fresh sheets of newspaper, as well as a light covering of the bark. She then walked away to carefully wash out and refill his water and food dishes – which looked disgustingly _green_ for the supposedly red plastic.

"The guy who was living here said his friend…or cousin dropped you here a few weeks ago, right? It doesn't look like that man hadn't cleaned you out once…I don't wonder you're so grouchy." She returned the full cup of water to his cage as she washed her hands thoroughly before beginning to slice up different types of fruit for his little bowl; the bird hopped slightly as he watched her, leaping to grip onto the sides of the cage as he bobbed around, in a vain effort to get closer, apparently eager for the change of diet. She walked back over to the cage, he flapped violently, darting back to the far corner as she stepped too quickly,

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry…here," She put her fingers to the latch and he immediately squawked again, unhappy at her proximity as his feathers rose up in an aggressive posture, remaining in the far corner of the cage, "Still not happy, huh? I guess I can't blame you, I think there are a lot of people who're unhappy with me being around,"

The parrot cocked his head again and seemed to understand as his shuffled slightly and lowered what remaining feathers he had, she took it as a show of good faith and swiftly opened the door and hooked the container to the side before retreating her hand. He remained still, eyeing her warily as she stepped backwards slowly towards the window; when Nakua was at a distance he seemed satisfied with, he hopped over to the food, gripped a large slice of mango in his claws and devoured it…as fast as he could.

"I'm not really surprised that you hate me…I guess I can understand your distrust if you've been bounced around and then not taken care of properly, I guess it's inevitable. It's so easy to hate, isn't it? Only takes a few knocks or a few scars and suddenly it seems like that's all there is left…like that's the only thing _worth_ feeling, it sticks around and stays, it clings – where all the positive emotions are so easily swept aside and crushed by someone else, what's the value in believing in them?"

Nakua sighed as she leaned on the window still, looking at the fading light of the setting sun, "Sometimes all it takes is just _one_ particularly bad knock, and you're lost forever…haa, I guess I caused a lot of those knocks for people in this village…I guess it doesn't matter if I was sorry, doesn't matter if I feel regret and seek to put right what's happened, it doesn't even matter that I'm not the one truly responsible, it just matters that I close to the one who is, I'm just manifestation of what they hate and what hurts them and that in itself is reason enough to want to kill me." She sighed again and looked over her shoulder at the parrot, who was bobbling lightly on the edge of his food dish, squawking lightly,

"You're still hungry, I take it?" He chirped in affirmation, eliciting a light smile from Nakua as she sluggishly shifted herself upright and walked cautiously over to the cage. The same routine ensued as he hopped away and she slowly retrieved the now empty dish; as she set about re-chopping the remaining fruit, "I wonder if you'll be around long enough to learn how to trust me?" She snorted at herself in derision, as she turned back to approach him, "Even if _you_ were, and learned to like me, I'd betray you in the end, and I'd leave you behind in the end – its better you hate me, I think," She returned the bowl to him and turned her back, quickly putting away all of the bird-care-related items onto the side of the kitchenette counter before picking up the bag – still half-full with items she bought for herself,

"See ya later…whatever your name is, I'll come see you again in the morning," He twittered in response, in a much calmer and non-aggressive or defensive fashion, she smiled ruefully to herself, "You're welcome."

…

"Ready?" Yuugao's words were solid but clipped, giving away almost nothing;

"…Yea," Nakua replied slowly as she closed the door behind her, and turned to lock it,

"Here," The kuniochi turned around again to find Yuugao holding out a pouch, "It's a weapons pouch, in there are kunai, sebon and shuriken as well as a few smoke bombs and some wire…you're not allowed any poisons or kibakufuda, if you are found with these or using them, it will not be tolerated," Nakua barely managed to resist rolling her eyes, ignoring the sour look Yuugao was giving her,

"Yea, yea,"

"Good, then let's go…we'll head to the training grounds and spar;" The both walked down the set of steps and down the populated street as Nakua clipped the pouch to her hip, "Tsunade-sama informed me that you are still quite injured, so I'll be going easy on you,"

She knew it was bait, but Nakua couldn't quite resist the angry frown which darted onto her face, if only she_ was_ up to full health, she thought ruefully, then she'd like to think she'd be able to hold her own; but she hadn't fought ANBU for a long time and regardless of what the final outcome, it would certainly prove to be an interesting experience. Nakua's leg still didn't feel much better from the day previous, but her ribs were on the mend - even if they were liable to begin acting up again as soon as she put any strain on them…damn, it would not be the best day for a spar – but by no means under the worst conditions she'd worked with.

"For our spar…will we be using any nin or genjutsu?" She asked, keeping the ANBU firmly in her peripheral vision, but not looking directly at her,

"No, we'll be sticking to taijutsu and weapons only…_this_ time," They lapsed again into silence and remained as such for the remainder of the journey, the blue-eyed kuniochi silently memorising the route there, should she ever desire to train by herself, when she was well enough or not being chaperoned by Yuugao. It wasn't long before they left the streets behind and walked out onto open fields, dusted with copse and a large woodland a little way off in the distance; they continued on until they came to one of the more dense copse of trees,

"Alright, we'll spar here…if you really need to stop, say so, but I won't stand for any messing around and we'll keep to close-by this copse,"

"Hai,"

"…Begin," Yuugao didn't miss a beat as she darted forward and threw a punch at Nakua who successfully blocked it and returned with a punch of her own, but the ANBU moved back just far enough that the strike missed; Nakua could immediately feel the nasty tug on her ribs from the extended movement and sighed to herself. She pulled back and leapt away a few paces, allowing her to feel in just what kind of condition she was in – not a great one, but not completely helpless either.

Digging her hand into her pouch she felt around a little checking where everything was before she sent a second hand in to help quickly tying wire around a kunai, Yuugao took this as an open shot and darted forward again. The alien kuniochi managed to dodge the first blow and yank her left arm back around just in time to block the foot that was sent to her face, as she locked around it and forced Yuugao still for the moment, as she pulled two sebon from her pouch and threw them at her.

Yuugao bent back to avoid them and, using her hands a leverage, pulled back sharply on her trapped leg and kicked out with her other, forcing Nakua to release her grip; the darker haired woman stumbled a little, her own leg not liking the sudden pressure put on it. She crouched down for the moment, carefully eyeing Yuugao's stance – her weight was mostly on her left leg and that mean a strike with her right fist would be best favoured…she sent a hand back to her pouch to pull out a kunai – she deal with tethering one in a moment or two, when Yuugao's eyes weren't directly upon her.

Nakua gathered herself and tensed, rising to her feet, she threw the kunai aiming ever so slightly towards the other kuniochi's right, forcing her to dodge to the left and into the copse of trees but not before she faced a nasty left hook from her opponent; Yuugao just about managed to block the worst of it, but she wasn't quite so lucky with the second punch Nakua issued. Yuugao was forced to dart backwards, flipping from her hands back up to her feet as she skidded backwards; Nakua immediately followed up hurling a second kunai and a smoke bomb which blanked out the distance between them.

The blue-eyed kuniochi thrust her hands into her pouch but the harsh gnash of metal sent the kunai flying back at her, relying on muscle-memory above all else, she flopped forwards, bending near right angle at the waist to avoid the projectile; the action made her cough with the stress and she fell to her knees, but managed to finish looping the wire around her weapons.

The smoke was quick to disappear and Yuugao was nowhere in sight, Nakua slowly pulled the wire tethered kunai clearly into her hands, along with the rest of the wire as she crouched and scoured the trees before her; it a shadow of a feeling that alerted Nakua to the incoming threat. She flung her kunai towards the target, allowing plenty of give on the wire – the other end of which was looped around a shuriken carefully concealed in her clenched fist; she heard the thunk of metal into wood and Yuugao flashed out from the trees and bore down on her.

Nakua held her ground and waited for Yuugao to approach close enough, when she was, the blue-eyed kuniochi flung the shuriken in her hand around so that it would loop around the ANBU – but she was a fraction too fast, pushing off the ground to leap up to avoid the wire, but it still caught her foot. This proved too little too late as Yuugao was upon her and pinning her to grass with a kunai to her neck;

"You lose," The ANBU's voice was completely dispassionate as her eyes seemed just as cold as ever, but looked right through Nakua, like the other kuniochi wasn't really there.

"…Evidently," The pressure of the kunai was slow to ease off her throat, but ease it did, as Yuugao rose to her feet, waiting for Nakua to do the same; the darker-haired kuniochi gradually gathered her weapons back up as the ANBU kuniochi kept her back to her,

"We'll call it a day here…I'll escort you back to your apartment."

* * *

><p>"I see," Tsunade's eyes fell from the mask covered face of the ANBU as she digested the information he reported back; her eyes glanced over the documents open in front of her, "Was Riichi still alive when they took him?"<p>

"I do not know, Hokage-sama," She paused for a few minutes and let out a silent breath – the loss of a shinobi to death was one thing, but the loss to potential torture and interrogation was quite another;

"How do you think they knew you were there? Did you trigger any traps?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama, a single trap just as we entered the compound," She raised an eyebrow,

"How long before they showed up?"

"A few hours…but I find it unlikely that that was the reason they attacked,"

"Hmm, you're probably right…what about experiments?"

"There were…a number of them, tissue sample analysis from shinobi they'd captured," Kakashi was thankful for his mask covering the entirely of his face, for even he couldn't quite resist a twitch of his eyebrow at the memory;

"I see…I'll look over these documents and I'll expect your reports first thing in the morning, dismissed," Tsuki bowed and immediately turned on his heel and walked a few steps away but paused as he noticed his Taichou hadn't moved, he hesitated for only a split second but continued walking out of the door. The young ANBU was eager to get out of his sweaty uniform after having run for so many hours – Taichou sure had push hard to get them back to Konoha as fast as possible; if Tsuki didn't know better, he would have thought there was something more biting at his team leader than the urgency brought on by an injured comrade.

"Is there something else, Kakashi?"

"…Tsunade-sama…where is that woman I brought in a few weeks ago?"

"What?"

"That woman I found…where is she?" The Godaime wasn't sure she liked just _how _flat his voice sounded, a little too clinical;

"Why do you wish to know?"

"I would like to talk to her," He remained stock still with his arms behind his back, his right hand gripping his left wrist, the tension increasing along with his agitation,

"She won't know anything about what happened here…no matter what it might look like-"

"It's not about that, Tsunade-sama,"

"Oh?" Her eyebrow raised again as she cocked her head slightly, Kakashi wondered if he was going to escape this with both wrists still intact, but he made no move to answer her question. The Hokage narrowed her eyes at him slightly and a terse silence hovered over them for a few moments, "Give me your report first, dismissed," Kakashi forced himself to bow, determined not to give away more than he had to, as he turned and walked from the office, it required all of his self-restraint not to slam the door with all his might on his way out.


	4. Things That Go To Make Up A Life

_Title: 'Home By The Sea' by Genesis :) Also: I've drawn a little sketch of Nakua ^-^ Interested? Go to: http:/rhartist. deviantart. com/#/d4x4ckb  
><em>

I~I~I

**Hatake Kakashi || Inner Self || Things That Go To Make Up A Life (Chapter 04)**

I~I~I

Kakashi didn't like to drink in public, it opened up the opportunity for too many problems – namely, he often ended up opening his big mouth; but on this occasion, he thought it more than justified. He hadn't even bothered to head to his apartment before he stopped at the bar for a drink; he ordered a large bottle of warm saké, a cup and settled himself in the far corner of the bar. His mind had been working overtime in trying to analyse and come-to-terms with the sudden rush caused by Tsunade's denial of his request – it had thrown him, he'd fully expected to have at least _some_ way of dealing with the feelings that the mission had dredged up.

As his mind whirred away trying and failing to come up with plans for how to deal with the kuniochi when he finally got a chance to speak with her – whenever he got that far, all he could think of was how long he'd waited for the day to catch up to the one truly responsible – but he'd always imagined it to be on the battle field – where his anger could be immediately and effectively channelled. But here? In Konoha? His feelings had only the ability to be destructive – and, even as confused as he was, he didn't relish the thought of just where his destructiveness might take him – irrespective of just how badly he _wanted_ to take it out on her…all that time ago, that last mission with the only remaining member of his team...

Rin hated ANBU missions and avoided them at all costs, but on this occasion, she'd been drafted for her medical abilities and she wasn't able to refuse. She'd been teamed with him, Ibiki and an Uchiha – Tsurugi; Obito's brother, they'd discovered half-way through the mission…and for a long time, he'd blamed that revelation to be the cause of Rin's demise – but that had quickly changed to cursing himself and his apathy. Now, his half-drunk self, flung the blame squarely on that woman's shoulders. That damn woman_ he shouldn't have bothered saving…if he'd known then what he knew now…_he sighed silently to himself as he poured out another cupful of saké and knocked it back, his mind drifting to the first and last mission he'd been on since Obito's death almost two and a half year's previous.

_"Wh-what?-!" Rin stared in shock at the Uchiha across from her, who continued to stare passively at the fire between them, "Y-your…brother?" He nodded,_

_"That's right…" He shot a look at Kakashi, who was doing his best to keep his face passive, "I was two months into a yearlong reconnaissance when he was killed," Rin either missed or ignored the tone in Tsurugi's voice,_

_"But…we didn't even know Obito _had_ a brother!"_

_"Unsurprising," Apparently, Obito's un-Uchiha-likeness was a one-off,_

_"Why?"_

_"…Obito was a disgrace; he was a brother through shared parentage only," Kakashi raised an eyebrow and Tsurugi rounded on him, "Enjoying your stolen eye, Hatake?"_

_"…" There wasn't really an appropriate answer to that question, but Rin apparently thought otherwise,_

_"It was a gifted eye! Obito wanted Kakashi to have it!" The look Tsurugi shot Rin was one of such disgust and abhorrence that even Kakashi was surprised by its intensity, _

_"It was not his gift to give," This sparked Kakashi's attention,_

_"Then whose was it?" _

_"The clan's…he had no right to so wastefully throw away such a precious eye!" Tsurugi turned his eyes back to the fire, apparently having managed to calm himself, "He was as much the fool he'd always been…though I'd certainly hoped that he'd at least have the decency to die with both eyes intact," Rin huffed heavily as she glared at the Uchiha, her naturally reserved nature lapsing momentarily from the prodding of Tsurugi,_

_"How dare you! How dare you speak about Obito that way! That he was one of the kindest people I knew who sacrificed the last vestige of his body to help his friend!" Tsurugi shrugged nonchalantly, _

_"A waste," Rin, at that, rose to his feet and stormed off, claiming that she was going to check on the traps on the far side of their perimeter, Ibiki was currently patrolling a little further out, closer to where the land of Fire bordered with Hot Springs – they'd tracked their enemy across the top of Fire, to where they'd mysteriously set down and Ibiki expected and exchange of some sort was going to be dealt; they'd paused to assess the situation. _

_They'd suspected some sort of connection to Iwa and the intel department were worried about any exchanges of information, they'd hoped to kidnap any and all of those involved for interrogation – although the Third war had been over for a number of years, the distrust and espionage activities of all Nations – whether they were directly involved or just on the periphery – had yet to fall back to peace-time levels. Kakashi had barely noticed Rin as she wandered off, his attention still on the Uchiha. _

_Things had been strained between himself and his previous and sole female teammate, with Obito and the Fourth dead and himself more often away with ANBU than not, they were already unsure of what to do with each other. Obito's pleas for Kakashi to take care of Rin still weighed heavily on him, but they couldn't resolve the awkwardness that persisted after Rin's attempt to confess her feelings for him – she'd been conflicted over her tireless attraction to him, but equal remorse over the loss of Obito and her ignorance of his feelings for her; they'd tended to avoid each other, (Kakashi satisfied that whilst Rin took on the medic side, she'd be safe enough) but that was its own betrayal, they weren't much more than strangers now, with the shadows of memories. _

_"Why would you want someone's eyes? What good would they be?"_

_"They're a clan's kekkei genkai, why do you _think_ we'd want to take them?" Kakashi barely managed to resist the urge to roll his eyes, "You were lucky to have the protection of the Fourth, Hatake, and you're lucky to now be in demand of the ANBU department, but remember, that one day of these days, you'll falter, and we won't hesitate to take that eye back, take whatever secrets you might have learned and kill you for your audacity," Kakashi merely raised his eyebrow, apparently unfazed,_

_"Well, when you're done hiding in fear, I'll be waiting," The Uchiha bared teeth slightly in what was either going to be a scathing return comment or, possibly a snarl when he was immediately cut across by a bitten off scream not far from them; the Copy Nin was swift to his feet and darting towards the sound in seconds, followed by the Uchiha, to where he found a kuniochi crouched over the strewn and limp body of Rin, the enemy nin's hand glowing a hateful orangey-red from its grip around a kunai buried in Rin's chest, roughly above her heart. The kuniochi noticed the other presences immediately and Kakashi wasted no time in diving in throwing, first some shuriken followed by his steadily growing array of jutsu._

Kakashi's strikes had been hard, but designed to incapacitate her – instead of to kill her – and this gave the kuniochi leverage, she'd played her cards extremely well and, for the fact she had apparently not come alone, Kakashi's lack of punishing attack had allowed her to slip through the net. They'd never really discovered the purpose of her attack or who she was affiliated with, but if she was after their team as a whole, then she was smart to take out the medic first – the back-up she had were all skilled and enough to occupy the ANBU long enough that the kuniochi had time to escape (and do a good job in covering her tracks) _and_ for the group they'd been tracking to escape from the sounds of the scuffle.

It was one of the biggest failures Kakashi counted in his track record, even Ibiki had been ashamed of the fiasco that mission turned out to be. Rin's death had been felt keenly through Konoha as one of the top medics, capable of coping with ANBU missions (there weren't many who could replace her, and even if the potential existed in the shinobi, it took _years_ to train them to any sort of competency level)…and again, Kakashi had lost yet another member of his team, the penultimate vestige of it – when his sharingan eye failed him, Team Minato would truly be dead.

Kakashi threw back the final cup of rice wine and pick up the bottle for another, but sighed in irritation at the realisation of its emptiness; he rose to his feet and took only minutes to return with another, apparently catching the attention of some of the other Jounin,

"Kakashi? You're hitting the bottle unusually heavily…and in public, that pretty rare; a bad mission?" Silver-hair eyed the dark haired kuniochi stood in front of his table, holding a bottle of saké of her own as Genma and Aoba appeared at her side,

"Hey, Kurenai, what's takin' ya…oh, hi, Kakashi," The tokabetsu Jounin appeared at the table, immediately spotting the sullenness of Kakashi, despite his notoriously challenging façade to read;

"What's up?" Kakashi half-grunted, half-shrugged as he tipped out a fresh cup of the in-spirituous beverage, realising just how far his senses had been dulled at the difficulty he had in controlling the full bottle and momentum carried by the liquid, the three other nin settled themselves around him, cautious not to invaded his personal space then ignore him, but equally careful not to put him on the spot;

"Kakashi?" Kurenai began again, as the nin threw the contents of his cup down his throat,

"…Are you aware that…there's a new kuniochi in the village?" Kurenai blinked for a moment,

"Yes, I'm aware of it, why?"

"Where is she?"

"I don't know, probably in her apartment," He only just managed to resist a dangerous eye twitch.

"They _gave her_ an apartment?"

"Apparently…why does it bother you so much?" Genma was listening in by this point,

"Where is her apartment?"

"I don't know, you'll have to ask Yuugao, she's her chaperone…of sorts," The Copy Nin gave no outward acknowledgement of the sentence, although his lips pursed, and he began rising to his feet, only to be halted by Genma,

"I don't like that look in your eye, Hatake, sit down and tell me what's going on,"

"None of your damn business," Somehow, the appearance of the others sitting around him, so oblivious to the turmoil made him want to leave – and just go and resolve the entire thing right now, the hell with the consequences…

"_Sit _down and talk," Genma didn't generally like to, but he knew how to turn on the authority when needs be – he also didn't like dealing with a livid Kakashi, but some things just had to be handled…maybe it was because he only had one on general display, but the Copy Nin seemed to be a master at the evil-eye. "Your drunk and angry, even in this state, you _know_ it's a bad idea to do anything other than calm down and sober up,"

"That doesn't matter," Kakashi made to stand again, but was met with more resistance as Genma grabbed his wrist, himself rising a little out of his seat,

"I don't believe you – the very fact your angry is proof that you _do _care and that it _does_ matter…sorry, but you're not going anywhere, at least, not until you cool off a little,"

"There isn't time for this," Sicne when was Genma so damn perceptive?

"Because what? This kuniochi is suddenly going to disappear off the face of the earth within the next five minutes?" Kakashi was extremely tense, Genma could feel it under his grip, he was almost about to expect him to take a swing, but in a second, the flickering tension fizzled and was gone; Kakashi inexplicably planted his ass firmly back on the seat and was busying himself pouring out another cupful of rice wine. "Now talk – what the hell's eating at you?" Kakashi sighed heavily, the sudden break in tension bringing him back to himself slightly. The combined stress of the disturbing findings in the laboratory, the discovery of Rin's murderer, the sudden fire-fight, Riichi's kidnap and then the long but ceaseless marathon back to Konoha had come down harder on him than he'd initially thought,

"I just…the last mission was stressful that's all," He took a slow sip of saké before turning to look at the slightly older shinobi to his right, whose eyebrow was raised in utter disbelief,

"…You've been raging at one person in particular, so don't fob me off with that – was she on the mission with you?"

"No," Genma nearly rolled his eyes,

"But you found her some way out of the village, right? A couple of weeks ago…so why the sudden desire to see her? What happened?" Kurenai queried, cocking her head slightly as she tried to piece it all together,

"I just…discovered some information about her, alright? I need to talk to her about it," Kakashi pushed his cup away from him, his thirst for alcohol finally quenched – the more he thought about the events leading up to his discovery (and the memories _that_ dredged up) beginning to make him feel the slightest bit queasy.

"…Now I'm starting to think you're as confused as you are drunk," The blonde nin muttered from behind his raised cup of sake, his elongated toothpick sticking out of the right side of his mouth allowing him to knock the beverage back,

"I'm not drunk," The Copy Nin griped back,

"Oh, yea, because you've been making _complete_ sense up 'til now," Even Aoba smirked at his as he'd just been staring slightly confusedly at the other three Jounin – who was this kuniochi? He hadn't heard anything, so far…

* * *

><p>Nakua had been ambling through the village – the sun had set a couple of hours ago and she was enjoying the warm, calm night; her leg had felt ten times better after she'd awoken from her short nap and she'd been itching to get outside, although held off until late that evening, she wasn't a belligerent character by nature, and thought it wise to avoid situations which might cause as much tension as possible. If Yuugao's attitude was anything to go by, it certainly wouldn't be wise to make her presence any more known to the village than at present.<p>

She'd eaten a small meal and was, by the time after, restless from having been sat still for too long with nothing to do or read or analyse – her work in laboratories might be a little taxing and grim, but it occupied her and gave her something to focus on, other than her predicament. After a while, one's surroundings become home whether they're beautiful or ugly – and for someone who spent most of her formative years in constant upheaval, she adapted perhaps a little too quickly for having a guaranteed bed for the night and a roof over her head…she still thought, on occasion, about Iimara and Tsubaki, the Wallflower Sisters as she used to jokingly call them.

They seemed to be able to overhear any and every conversation they chose, and had been a great asset to her, when she needed friends – both for allies and counsel – if it hadn't been for them, perhaps she would never have come within fifty miles of Konoha ever again and perhaps the Third would have died a lot sooner. How long had it been since she'd seen them, now? Years…she hadn't dared contact them and barely even think about them for fear of Orochimaru getting his hands on them – or disposing of them for the potential security risk he might perceive them to pose.

Still, they knew that the possibility of their being reunited was slim-to-none when she'd left and they'd said all that needed to be. As the kuniochi traced her way through the quiet and mostly empty streets, they began to give way to more secluded paths, were the houses and buildings fell back to phalanxes of trees and bushes, the tarmac, too, crumbled to earth. She breathed more deeply as the smell of nature returned and she began to feel more at home – but it seemed to fade almost as quickly as it had come for the concrete path returned with a small, but irritating step which nearly tripped the unsuspecting kuniochi; she could just about see, through the residual light from Konoha and of the waxing moon, a number of monuments.

Stepping inside the small, stepped boundary, she took in the unformed nature of the layout and, upon bending to read one of the plaques, discovered it was a graveyard. She traced the steps forward, her eyes flicking from one monument to the next, although too dark to read the individual names, the significance of the place wasn't lost on her, she meandered down the path which split the area in two up to where, at the far end was a large statue with carved out curls of red flame – and another plaque – signified who was begin adorned with such a commemoration – in a sense, who Nakua had come to Konoha looking for.

She wondered what the Third would have to say about her current predicament, where he alive to meet her like they'd agreed; Orochimaru was notorious for keeping his cards close to his chest, but she'd expected to at least _hear_ about the fact he Hokage had died – it was probably more to do with the fact the snake Sannin didn't trust her that he'd kept her in the dark and never told her a damn thing. He only ever gave her just enough information that she wouldn't _need_ to ask any more questions – although that by itself didn't remove any desire to on her part.

She remembered clearly her work for the past few years had been very out-of-the-way, in south eastern Fire here, HaHa Island there…she'd never been allowed into the central and most secretive of Orochimaru's bases – but of course, it was also possible he'd somehow erased her memory, which would certainly make sense…though that didn't mean there weren't more valuable things to learn about enemies than simple facts or statistics – or even plans and locations which were easy things to erase or suppress from someone's mind – the sense of an enemy, their tactics and personality – the instinct one has about their enemies, those are things more ingrained in the psyche.

Tsunade, apparently, wasn't completely ignorant of the situation, at least, which gave Nakua the leeway she needed-

"So here you are," A sudden and snide voice caught her attention and pulled her from her train of thought, she half turned around, keeping her posture and expression passive and relaxed, setting eyes on a man standing behind her, his shock silver hair waved lightly in the wind as he stood in something just off an aggressive posture – although his fists were clenched;

"Can I help you?" He narrowed his single visible eye at her, the kuniochi, meanwhile, looking him carefully up and down – he had about a half-a-head in height on her and a good few inches in width; she fully turned to face him,

"You're that woman I found outside of Konoha close to two weeks ago,"

"Oh, you're the one who found me?" He gave a vague nod, "Then I guess I am indebted to you, Mr…?"

"…Hatake Kakashi,"

"Ah, right, of course! Then I thank you, Kakashi-san," She nodded her head lightly in a polite greeting and flashed a small, smile along with it; he didn't budge or change expression,

"Do you remember what happen-_what you did_, over a decade ago?" She raised an eyebrow, apparently unfazed by either his threatening tone or darkening expression,

"I'm afraid you'll have to be a little more specific,"

"At the Fire border – near to the Hot Springs country, you killed a young woman with red hair and facial paint of the same colour…she was a medic," Nakua frowned lightly and averted her eyes as she considered his words,

"Hmm…well, I've _have_ killed a lot of people, but yes, I think I remember someone vaguely like that…" Something in Kakashi snapped at her blasé attitude and he grabbed her collar dragging her slightly closer,

"Do you have any idea who she was?" The kuniochi was still unimpressed by his display,

"What? Was she your lover?"

"No…" Kakashi answered perhaps a little too quickly, and she felt his grip relax slightly, "But she was entrusted to my care,"

"So what? She couldn't look after herself? Bah, she didn't put up that much of a fight," He immediately tensed again, apparently struggling to rein in the desire to attack her, "…Now you want to kill me for killing her?"

"Yes," She offered a light smirk, "I do want to kill you," His eye continued to narrow as his hands shook slightly, "I should have killed you a long time ago,"

"Yes, you should have – see all the trouble that mercy gets you into?" She tutted slightly as she shook her head, a teasing smile creeping to her face, "Tut, tut, the _great Copy Nin_, who'd have thought he'd falter so _easily_?" She gave a breath of laughter just before Kakashi flung her backwards; but the kuniochi flipped and managed to avoid slamming into the memorial, she stuck to it with chakra at the soles of her feet, before pushing off and diving towards Kakashi, who blocked her punch and swung her around, again hurtling her backwards. Nakua skidded on the balls of her feet to a slow halt, rising gently back upright,

"Wow, you certainly have a temper, don't you?" She grinned again, and reached around to drag kunai out of her pouch,

"They've even given you weapons?" He crouched himself as he too drew out two kunai, "They trust you more than they should,"

"Seems to be a common theme around here, ne?" He darted forward and the blur of movement was broken by the harsh gnash of metal blades biting – they tensed and resisted against each other for a few moments, "Will you really kill me? Tsunade won't be pleased," He forced her to take a step back with a sudden thrust of force – her arms began to buckle as his full strength was more than she could cope with; but just as soon as he bared down on her, the pressure was gone, he was a few feet away with his back turned. He'd caught her off guard, but she didn't show it,

"You're trusting me again," He shrugged his shoulders as a third nin appeared from behind Nakua,

"Aeyaki-san, Tsunade-sama wishes to see you," She turned slightly, enough to see the artificial and barren mask of an ANBU agent, she returned her eyes to Kakashi's back, it appeared relaxed, his hands were in his pockets, the kunai that had once been gripped in them nowhere in sight and his head was still held high, as though no confrontation had ever taken place between them.

The kuniochi slowly replaced her kunai to her pouch and turned her back to the silver haired shinobi,

"I'll see you soon, Kakashi-san," She offered innocently as she followed the nin who leapt away, it took barely a few minutes before they landed in front of the administration building and walked slowly up to the office – the halls were still fairly busy, even for the late hour;

"Tsunade-sama, I have brought Aeyaki Nakua to you,"

"Good, show her in," The ANBU stepped back from the door and allowed the kuniochi to walk in, "Nakua;" She greeted, and as soon as the door was closed behind her, the Hokage invited her to sit, "I think it's time we discussed why you came back and just exactly what agreement you made with the Third,"

"Why now, all of a sudden?"

"I've been looking over the old files, left behind by the previous Hokage and there are a few things I'm not sure about, I need as much information as you can give me,"

"…Hmm…it won't complete,"

"Why not?"

"I suspect Orochimaru will have altered my memories, so I can't tell you any direct plans…but I can tell you the gist of my research, the locations of one or two old labs,"

"How much time did you spend directly with Orochimaru?"

"Not much, I was always often at one of the outer bases, training, researching – one every few months to a year I'd check in with Kabuto – I only recall one or two times I'd ever seen or spoken with Orochimaru directly,"

"Hmm…Well, we should start at the beginning, tell me, which came first, your arrangement with the Third or Orochimaru?" The kuniochi leaned back in her chair and averted her eyes to the ceiling,

"It's been so long, I've almost forgotten…I think I was lost, I was brought to the Third and he and I spoke for a long time – he remembered me from when I left Konoha…he convinced me to keep in contact with Konoha, even though I didn't want to return,"

"Why did you leave in the first place?"

"The Jounin instructor for my group was the one responsible for my parents' deaths," Tsunade raised an eyebrow,

"And Sarutobi didn't have you reassigned?" Nakua shrugged slightly, a small and somewhat watery smile appeared on her face,

"It was the principle of the thing…but, I left anyway, and after my dealings with the Third it must have been…six – maybe seven months after when I had a confrontation with Kabuto…"

…

As soon as Nakua had leapt away Kakashi too had taken himself off towards one of the training grounds – and a tree took the brunt of his rage – even he could barely believe just how _angry_ he still was; the rage thrummed through his veins at not only having come face to face with Rin's killer, but her amused and uncaring attitude had riled him more than he thought possible – his chakra focussed automatically as threw his fists at the trunk as hard as he could, uncaring for his splitting, screaming knuckles – or the equally protesting bark.

It felt good just to channel all of his aggression into something; he wanted to destroy something, to make it suffer the way he had been made to…he could only feel the conflict between his raw, explosive need to kill her, the want to make her suffer for everything she'd done – and the innate knowledge that it was _wrong, _that he could not justify the cold, vengeful murder of that woman…especially not when she had the ability to help fight against one of Konoha's greatest enemies.

He was conflicted in a way he hadn't known before…he was still just so _angry_, and he couldn't begin to rationalise it – it was just cold, raw hateful, everything negative and destructive. Finally, as his strength waned and the pain in his hands got the better of him, he swiped one last clumsy punch at the bark before he slumped against it – the sudden exertion combined with his sense of helplessness and indecision.

He felt stupid for his loss of control, the pain of his hands bringing him back to reality as he shifted awkwardly to rest his back against the tree, sighing heavily averting his eye up to the inky black sky, pitted with diamond stars…_what the hell was wrong with him? He never lost control like this and he couldn't afford to do so again_… True he had drunk earlier in the evening, but he'd taken a long walk and had sobered significantly before he came across her – although apparent, enough remained in his blood stream that it had inhibited enough of his inhibitions to attack her without thought of the rules of a proper spar.

_Damn_, he'd need to keep himself away from her – even that accursed attitude of hers would set him off again, how could she be so uncaring about the deaths she's responsible for? How could she care so little about the pain she'd caused? Had she really been so twisted that life was now so meaningless to her?

It beginning to make him angry again just thinking about it as he pushed off the tree and darted back to his apartment – he wasn't going to apologise for his actions, but he certainly wasn't about to allow them to happen again, either – he couldn't risk losing his cool and, equally, he resented her attitude. He didn't want to see how continually blasé her outlook was – it so invalidated the agonising he'd done over the years and the work he'd done in learning how to resolve his pain.

Even so, she was still not fully trusted and had a limited rein in Konoha – it shouldn't be too difficult to avoid her…he couldn't manage it indefinitely, but if all went well, he could at least lie low until he'd be able to deal with her on less emotionally charged terms. It shouldn't be too difficult, should it? Tsunade would, in theory keep her busy, and Kakashi knew every nook and cranny in Konoha in which to hide…and Yuugao was her chaperone, was she? Then maybe he could pull a few strings and have the ANBU keep her well out of his way? A small twitch of a smile pulled at his lips as he'd finally reined in the worst of the emotion coursing through him.

No…it wouldn't be too difficult; as Kakashi unzipped his flak jacket and kicked off his sandals, he made his way to his bathroom to wash his hands, gently tugging off his blood encrusted gloves all the while, his mind work more on his plans for avoidance and as he held his knuckles beneath the steady stream of cool water, he could feel his anger and frustration ebb along with the red stains on his skin.

..

.

A/n - I donpe you don't think Kakashi was too out of character - but personally, I don't see him as an unfeeling monster, I think he can get pretty riled up if someone pushes his buttons right (or wrong, whichever lol) and I reckon that someone making light of killing his team-mates would be one such large and very shiny button which which to piss off Hatake Kakashi lol...


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